Even bigger putz, Squggler - taken with his Vietnam era stance that the draft was unfair to the poor and minority - who weren’t able to ‘defer’ themselves out, Senator Kerry seems to think that the US just should not have a military, since it is unfair to the poor and minority (you know the stupid ones stuck in Iraq; see above).

Well here goes:

>However, our research shows that the volunteer force is already equitable.

We found that whites are one of the most pro­portionally represented groups—making up 77.4 percent of the population and 75.8 percent of all recruits—whereas other racial categories are often represented in noticeably higher and lower propor­tions than the general population.

After September 11, 2001, the educational quality of recruits rose slightly. Comparing 1999 enlisted recruits to 2003 recruits showed an increase in col­legiate experience. In 2003, a higher proportion of recruits had college experience and diplomas, and a lower percentage had only a high school diploma— a shift of about 3 percentage points.

We found that recruits tend to come from middle class areas, with disportionately fewer from low-income areas.<

excerpts fromWho Bears the Burden? Demographic Characteristics of U.S. Military Recruits Before and After 9/11By Tim Kane, Ph.D. Center for Data Analysis Report November 7, 2005

So I guess Kerry is the stupid one here - this just shows he doesn’t have clue.